Ensuring that the children and young people in the care of Tusla are in the appropriate care placement, with the appropriate support services, is an enduring priority for the Agency, in order to enable the best possible outcomes for every child.
Tusla has advised that in 2021 they received 72,762 referrals and at the end of April 2022 there were 5,869 children in care. Tusla has further advised that of the children in care, 5,246 (89%) were in Foster Care, 439 (7%) were in residential care and the remaining 184 (3%) were in “other” care placements, including supported lodgings, at home under a care order, other residential centres (such as disability centres) or a detention centre.
Tusla has informed me that where an appropriate residential care placement cannot be identified in a Tusla, Voluntary or Private Residential Centre setting, the local Area has no option but to provide a local bespoke emergency placement. These placements often consist of a physical location such as an apartment, hotel or a hostel with staff provided on site.
These arrangements provide a short-term placement response for children and young people that need to be taken into care in an emergency, or where a more appropriate placement cannot be provided.
Tusla has advised that in all cases, sourcing an appropriate residential care placement is not due to a funding issue, but rather Tusla’s ability to source a specialist placement that can meet the specific needs of these children and young people. These children and young people have complex needs, often related to challenging behaviour due to the trauma they have experienced, substance misuse, mental health issues or involvement in criminality require an interagency response and timely access to services across the HSE, Tusla and in some cases the services of juvenile justice.
Tusla has further advised that the young people in these arrangements, primarily single occupancy arrangements, have a dedicated social worker, care plan in place and a staffing ratio of 3/2:1 staff: child.
Tusla has further advised that there are internal processes in place for the approval, placement, and governance of these placements to mitigate risk and to promote the safety and well-being of young people in these arrangements.
Tusla has informed me that they do not currently collate data in the way you have requested however they have confirmed that on average, between 9-11 young people are referred for such emergency placements per month.
Tusla has however provided relevant data from the week commencing Monday 16th May 2022, which indicates that there were 35 young people in emergency bespoke arrangements across the six Tusla geographical regions. The age profile of the young people is presented in Table 1 below:
Table 1: Numbers of children by age category in bespoke placements week of 16th May 2022
Data on bespoke placements week of 16th May 2022
|
Age categories of children in bespoke placements
|
Number of Children / Young People
|
|
18 years and over
|
2
|
|
16-18 years
|
16
|
|
13-15 years
|
14
|
|
Under 13 years
|
3
|
Table 2: The placement locations of the young people in bespoke placements week of 16th May 2022 are presented in Table 2 below:
Placement locations of the young people in bespoke placements week of 16th May 2022
|
Accommodation type
|
Number of children
|
|
Hotel
|
7
|
|
Rented accommodation
|
16
|
|
Holiday Let
|
5
|
|
Other
|
7
|
Tusla has advised that the data supplied above indicates that 7 young people during that week were in hotel arrangements, with the other 28 young people being placed in an apartment, holiday letting, or Tusla building.
Tusla has informed me that they are committed to minimising the placement of children and young people in hotel settings and to minimise the duration in this type of setting, when such a placement is required.
Tusla has further advised that when young people transition to apartment/independent units, a concern of the Agency is that these placements are on occasion away from their local community, educational and social supports and are not a long-term placement that enables more secure connections. As such Tusla has highlighted the need to strengthen interagency working to best meet their needs.
In order to meet the needs of these children and young people, Tusla has advised that they are engaging with the HSE & An Garda Síochána and are liaising with the Ombudsman’s Office for Children and HIQA in order to explore how this interagency working can be further strengthened.
Tusla has further advised that the children and young people that are discharged from, or transition from these arrangements, do so to a number of settings, often following a period of stabilisation. Such settings can include foster care, residential care, special care, home, disability placement, semi-independent living or independent living arrangements. Any decision on the most appropriate setting will be made in the context of their presentation/needs.
Tusla has advised that they are currently in the process of developing and implementing an Alternative Care Strategic Plan to ensure efficient service provision across the continuum of alternative care. Tusla has further advised that this Plan will seek to increase resource allocation, develop therapeutic services, promote recruitment and retention of staff and strengthen integrated pathways of care to ensure all children and young people in Tulsa’s care receive the support they need to live better, safer and healthier lives.
